Working conditions and health status in workers in the production of mineral fertilizers

Introduction. Currently, the search for the most informative criteria for assessing the effect of harmful factors is of great importance. Hematological control is one of the most popular diagnostic tests. In medical practice, there is also used the determination of leukocyte indices (LI), which are calculated on the basis of a general blood test and reflect the body’s response to various processes, such as adaptation, inflammation and allergies.

Objective – to identify the specifics of working conditions, morbidity rates, transformation of integral hematological indices and to study the degree of occupational determination of these indicators for the timely detection of the harmful effects of production factors on the health of employees working with mineral fertilizers.

Materials and methods. The paper presents the results of a comprehensive assessment of the prevalence of general somatic non-infectious diseases and analyzes the results of studies of endogenous intoxication. Based on the obtained data, an assessment of the occupational risk was carried out in accordance with the guidelines for assessing the occupational risk to workers’ health using the relative risk (RR, units) and the etiological proportion (EF, %).

Results. Hygienic working conditions have shown that at each stage of the technological process, its own specific production environment is formed, which is characterized by a complex of gas-aerosol components and an unfavorable microclimate.

The results of a comprehensive medical examination revealed that there are 2.8 general somatic non-infectious diseases per employee examined. The most common among them are diseases of the circulatory system, central nervous system, peripheral nervous system and gynecological diseases.

The analysis showed that the leukocyte intoxication index (LII) in different production workshops and in all occupational groups has high values.

Limitations. The study took into account only the influence of harmful production factors on deviations of integral hematological indices among workers in various production departments.

Conclusions. Studying the influence of harmful production factors on the body of workers allows identifying early signs of adverse effects on health. This will help develop and implement preventive and health measures to prevent possible health problems.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study was approved by the local ethics committee of the Ufa Research Institute of Occupational Medicine and Human Ecology (minutes of meeting No. 01-1 of January 22, 2025), and was conducted in accordance with the generally accepted scientific principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association. All participants gave informed voluntary written consent to participate in the study.

Contribution:
Vlasova N.V., Masyagutova L.M. – concept and design of the study, writing the text;
Karamova L.M. – collection and discussion of results;
Rafikova L.A. – work with literary sources;
Abdrakhmanova E.R. – statistical processing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: October 15, 2024 / Revised: April 29, 2025 / Accepted: June 26, 2025 / Published: August 20, 2025

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